Author's Note: School's finally over and I fortunately passed all the subjects! As promised, I'd update this story and I hope people are still reading this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail

Tick…tock…tick…tock, time was really running slow for the melancholic lion. Regret was clearly drawn in his face, as he kept on thinking of the "what ifs" that could have resulted to a more favourable outcome. He was mentally torturing himself, he knew that he could never change the past, but somehow, he was still refusing to let go of it, possibly because it might be the last time that he'll see Lucy. He silently chuckled as he never thought he'd rue the day that he cheated on his girlfriend. Thousands of years of existence and nothing like this has ever happened to him.

Tick…tock…tick…tock, the loud sound of the stupid clock annoyed the contemplating lion. He realized that the sound was getting fainter and as he stared at the clock, something surprised him. It wasn't moving at all, yet the sound was loud and clear, but at the same time, the ticks and tocks were getting slower as if it was going to stop. A realization suddenly hit the spirit as he showed signs of panic and alarm. And before another tick was heard, he quickly disappeared.

Meanwhile on Earthland, Lucy just woke up and was still quite dizzy, kind of like the feeling of having a hangover. She looked at the room and realized she wasn't in her own home.

"Whe…where am I? Did it work?" Lucy asked a little out loud. The nurse overheard her and quietly went inside her room.

"You're in the hospital miss, a tall man with orange flaming hair and blue glasses in a tuxedo rushed you here a few hours ago. Lucky for you, your pulse rate was really low, and a little few minutes sooner you would have crossed the other side", the nurse explained.

"That's what I intended…", Lucy whispered to herself.

"You said something honey?", asked the curious nurse.

"Oh nothing, thanks for taking care of me", Lucy gave out a fake smile to the nurse.

"No problem, now get some rest", the nurse said before she went out of the room.

Damn you Loke! Why do you have to mess up everything? You think saving me makes everything better? Well you're wrong and there's nothing you can do to make everything better again. Lucy was furious with her thoughts; they were so angry that it gave her a migraine, something she was accustomed to because of Natsu and Happy's constant trespassing antics on her home. She decided that she hasn't recovered yet and went back to sleep. At least in her dreams, she can have her happy ever after. No matter how pathetic it sounds, it was the only choice that she had.

Weeks have passed and Lucy has finally recovered and was discharged from the hospital. She was starting to go back on missions with her teammates and was seemingly having the time of her life. The strongest team was finally complete again and this made the members happy, but they were careful in not opening up anything about the events that happened between her and Loke. She also started going out with Levy and Mira too. They resumed having dinner dates, going to book club nights, and watching cheesy movies. Yes, in other people's eyes, Lucy finally moved on, but deep inside, it was all a façade that she had to put together in order to avoid seeing people pity her. She hated being regarded as weak, and she has to show them that what happened no longer bothered her and she has finally moved on with her life. It was really hard, smiling on the outside but dying on the inside, but she's used to it, those times with her father when she was growing up, and how he treated her despite of her best efforts to be close to him was a prime example, how could this situation be any different, right?

During Lucy's date with Mira and Levy, things were getting great, until an awkward conversation ensued.

"I'm glad you're hanging with us again Lu-chan!"

"Yeah, I'm happy to Levy-chan, this is really great, I missed it a lot!"

"We should do this some other time, I know! Let's watch Devil Crisis 3!" Mirajane suggested as her eyes glint evilly coupled by a malicious grin, those were signs that her Satan Soul was starting to take over.

The two other girls sweat dropped at Mira's suggestion.

"Uh…" Levy started. "How about some cheesy romantic movie with our boyf-oomf"

Mira sharply elbowed Levy's stomach upon hearing the suggestion.

"Hey! What did you do that for!" Levy said angrily as she followed the direction of Mira's eyes. She finally saw Lucy's changed expression. "Oh god! I'm sorry Lucy!"

"No, no, it's ok, really", Lucy flashed a fake smile before continuing "oh look at the time, it's getting late, I need to go"

"Oh…ok", the two other girls said in unison, they know that touching the delicate issue would make things worse; saying nothing was their best option.

Lucy grabbed her things, said goodbye, and went straight home. When she arrived, she bawled her eyes out. For some reason, the pain was fresh again, and she can't understand why it came back. That night, she cried herself to sleep, unaware of the stranger sadly looking at her.

A few more months have passed and she was genuinely getting the hang of it. Loke-who? She'd jokingly ask herself. She was ready; she was finally ready on what she wanted to do ever since she found out about what Loke did to her. And today is the day that she'd finally do it.

Meanwhile, Loke was still depressed on what happened, everyday was torture to the lion, he seems to be incapable of forgetting Lucy. In his situation, death is a sweet reward while life is just a cruel punishment. But he was still hoping, hoping that someday Lucy will finally open his gate and forgive him.

Lucy started to walk downtown near the harbour. She started to reminisce on those times that they were together.

"I love you Lucy…"

"You're the only girl for me…"
"I promise I will never leave you…"

"Lies…" Lucy said, but there was no hint of bitterness in her voice, it was more of an indifferent tone and it actually was. Her heart has finally turned numb towards any feelings for Loke. Not happy, sad, angry, jealous, or even hurt. It was just plain dry.

She kept on walking and walking when it started to rain. The gloomy weather left her unfazed as she continued going to her destination. Memories of what used to be started to envelop her mind, like it was trying to stop her on what she was about to do. But it was all futile, she did not even cringe at the sudden thoughts. When she finally arrived, she took out Loke's key from her pocket.

"Goodbye Loke…"

Those were her final words as she threw Loke's key to the ocean. And you know what? She didn't feel any regret, not even a little.

In the spirit world, Loke felt the suddenly weakened, like some part of him disappeared.

"No…NO! It can't be!" Loke said in surprise. What he dreaded the most has finally came, it was this day, the day that Lucy Heartfilia has finally decided to let go of him. He tried to open his gate, but he was unable to. Because he was no longer Lucy's spirit, his strength got weaker, hence, the inability to open his gate on his own.

"LUCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" he screamed, however they only fell on deaf ears.

Author's Note: Please review. I'm glad that I was able to update, I've got a lot of catching up to do. Thanks in advance ^_^

Song that inspired this chapter:

Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy